Jordan - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Jordan

March 16, 2025

Amman 5:59 am

16°C

A picture taken during a tour organized by the Jordanian Army shows soldiers patrolling along the border with Syria to prevent trafficking, on Feb. 17, 2022.

Four accused smugglers killed on Jordan-Syria border: What we know

Jordan’s border forces killed four drug smugglers attempting to cross from Syria, seizing weapons and narcotics in the latest crackdown on smuggling along the border.

King Abdullah and Sharaa

Jordan’s king hosts Sharaa amid Israeli escalation in Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrived in Jordan on Wednesday, his third foreign visit since taking office, while Israeli airstrikes targeted military positions in Syria.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Jordanian King Abdullah II as he departs the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025.

Analysis

As Trump’s aid freeze tests Jordan’s economic stability, can Gulf and China offer lifeline?

The tensions created by the American president pressing Jordan to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians could lead Amman to boost ties with US rival China, Europe and others.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Jordan’s dependence on US foreign aid puts king in bind

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Latest News

Trump backs off aid threat to Jordan but insists on Gaza takeover

President Donald Trump and Jordan's King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein shake hands during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, on Feb. 11, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

As Jordan's king arrives in US, Trump's Gaza plan sparks alarm at home

President Donald Trump shakes hands with King Abdullah II during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on June 25, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Aaron Magid

Turkey, Jordan, Iraq to hold first anti-ISIS summit this month: Turkish official

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) speaks during a joint press conference with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein (R), Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 22, 2023.

From Saudi Arabia to Australia and China, world leaders denounce Trump’s plan to 'take over' Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Hanna Davis

In Beirut, reporting on politics, migration, human rights

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

A handout showing Ahmed al-Sharaa while meeting with a UK delegation in Damascus, Dec. 17, 2024.

UAE, Saudi Arabia congratulate Sharaa as Jordan resumes Syria flights

Arab leaders have warmly welcomed Ahmed al-Sharaa as Syria's interim president, with close allies of his deposed predecessor remaining noncommittal.

A picture taken on July 15, 2021, shows an abandoned Israeli army post in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank near the border with Jordan (background). - As scientific warnings of dire climate change-induced drought grow, many in Israel and Jordan cast worried eyes at the river running between them and the critical but limited resources they share. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel sees surge in Iran weapons smuggling to West Bank via Jordan

With its proxies in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria all but paralyzed, Iran is encouraging a Palestinian uprising against Israel in the West Bank.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party, in Damascus, on Dec. 22, 2024.

From UK to Jordan: Delegations pour into Damascus, meet Syria's al-Sharaa

Officials from the Arab world, Turkey, the US and Europe have sent delegations to Syria since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

Salah Malkawi/Getty Images

Syria's crossing with Jordan reopens as Israeli military takes position in south

Jordanian and Syrian trucks are once again using the only border crossing between the two countries as Israeli troops take position in a buffer zone and European diplomats engage with the new authorities in Syria.

The International Criminal Court

Germany reluctant to arrest Netanyahu after ICC warrant as France, Canada commit to uphold

The International Criminal Court on Thursday announced arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.

People wave Palestinian and Jordanian flags and chant slogans as they march during a demonstration near the US embassy in the capital Amman in solidarity with the people of Gaza on December 15, 2023, amid the continuing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas. (Photo by Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP) (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Despite Israel's war in Gaza, Jordan stability holds & security forces' grip firm

Not a single Jordanian has died in anti-Israel protests, and the Hashemite Kingdom’s security forces have remained loyal to King Abdullah II.

Aaron Magid

Singaporean Air Force's F-15SG fighter jet and Apache helicopter perform during a preview of the Singapore Airshow in Singapore on Feb. 18, 2024.

Additional US F-15 fighter jets arrive in Jordan as Israel anticipates Iran attack

The Biden administration seeks to dissuade Iran from launching yet another retaliatory attack against Israel amid a drawn-out exchange of strikes that risk escalating into a wider conflict.

JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Gulf governments silent as Iran, proxies mourn Hamas' Yahya Sinwar

Regional governments have not commented on Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar’s killing by Israeli forces in Gaza, but Iran and its proxy groups mourned his death, vowing that the resistance against Israel will continue.

MURTAJA LATEEF/AFP via Getty Images

Iran’s FM Araghchi mobilizes against Israel in visits to Jordan, Egypt, Turkey

Iran’s foreign minister has paid visits to several countries in the region in the past weeks, with the latest stop taking him to Jordan, amid Israel’s expected retaliation for Iran's missile attack.

An elderly Jordanian woman votes in parliamentary elections at a polling station at the al-Baqaa Palestinian refugee camp near the capital Amman on September 10, 2024.

Jordan's Islamist party gains in parliamentary elections

Initial results showed the Islamic Action Front, Jordan's largest opposition party, having won 18 seats on the national party list and 14 seats on local lists and tribal regions.

A car drives past a road signal indicating the Allenby (King Hussein) Bridge crossing point to Jordan (background), Jericho, West Bank, Jan. 28, 2021.

Analysis

First in 30 years: How Allenby Bridge attack could upend Jordan-Israel ties

Despite the strained relationship between Jordan's King Abdullah and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, neither of the governments wishes to see the breakout of violence on the border or the Temple Mount.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

An Israeli army bulldozer digs up a road in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem with a Palestinian flag fluttering in the foreground on the second day of a large-scale military operation in the north of the occupied West Bank on August 29, 2024. The death toll climbed on August 29 as the Israeli army said it killed five militants in Tulkarem, bringing to 14 the overall number of people killed since the launch of the West Bank operation the previous day. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR A

Jordan sounds alarm over Israeli incursion into West Bank

Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank have heightened concerns among Jordanian officials of increasing instability on their border.